President Barack Obama has racked up quite a slew of misstatements and untruths over his nearly 7 years in office, contributing to an average disapproval rating that's remained over 50 percent for the majority of his presidency.
Gathered below are 12 of the dumbest policy statements, gaffes, and untruths that have hurt not only Obama, but the Democrats a whole, providing for the party's losing of the House and Senate, as well as governorships and state legislatures across the country.
1. Obamacare — "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan."
Politifact.com found 37 instances in which the president or top administration official said something close to, "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan." This ultimately proved disastrous for Obama, as millions of people lost their coverage when the Affordable Healthcare Act took effect. Because of Obamacare, the president's party has taken multiple shellackings in midterm elections.
2. Islam — "Here in America, Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding." Earlier this year, Obama made a statement that was historically dubious — at best — about the founding of America.
As Breitbart noted, the first mosque in the U.S. was not built until the 20th century.
3. Red line in Syria — "We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation." In August 2012, Obama said that he would not accept Syrian President Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons during that country's civil war. White House legislative affairs director Miguel E. Rodriguez repeated the "red line" rhetoric in April 2013,
The Washington Post reported. After the Syrian regime used chemical weapons, however, Obama backpedaled, saying "I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line." Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called Obama's bluff, as the administration ultimately did nothing in response.
4. Russia — During one 2012 presidential debate, Obama won huge applause when he told his rival, "Gov. Romney, I’m glad you recognize al-Qaida is a threat, because a few months ago when you were asked what is the biggest geopolitical group facing America, you said Russia, not al-Qaida. You said Russia. And the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back. Because the Cold War has been over for 20 years." In February 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, annexing it by force. In June, after Obama refused to do anything to help U.S.-ally Ukraine, he told other Eastern European leaders at a meeting in Poland, "We stand together always. What you’ve built over the last 25 years no other nation can take away."
5. Badmouthing Netanyahu — "The prime minister didn’t offer any viable alternatives … nothing new." President Obama tried to sink Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his re-election bid earlier this year. After Netanyahu addressed congress, Obama denied him a White House visit, and said he was wrong on the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal that was forming at the time. Netanyahu would go on to win re-election handily.
6. Immigration — "I am president; I am not king. I can’t do these things just by myself. We have a system of government that requires the Congress to work with the executive branch to make it happen." Obama made a great many statements saying he could not unilaterally rewrite immigration laws to benefit the undocumented. In November 2014, he did an about face, rewriting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. A judge soon stopped the implementation of the rewrite, but a year later
The Hill reported that the White House plans to circumvent his injunction.
7. Liberal mainstream media — "They can’t handle a bunch of CNBC moderators. I mean, let me tell ya, if you can’t handle, if you can’t handle those guys, you know then I don’t think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you." President Obama recently tried to make fun of the Republican presidential candidates after they publically confronted CNBC's debate moderators, calling out the obvious liberal bias. Obama's bringing up both the Chinese and Russians is interesting, considering his laundry list of failures on both fronts. The Chinese currently hold American political prisoners like business consultant Phan Phan-Gillis, and Russia invaded U.S.-ally Ukraine while Obama did nothing.
8. Russian missile defense — "This is my last election ... After my election I have more flexibility." In early 2012, President Barack Obama was caught on camera assuring outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would have more negotiating room on issues like missile defense after he won re-election,
Reuters reported. The gaffe showed that Obama placed his own politics above U.S. foreign relations, and was potentially willing to risk Western safety for the sake of his own campaign.
9. "They cling to guns or religion" — "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama said during his 2008 presidential campaign. "And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
10. Christianity and the Crusades — "And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ." During this year's National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama struck a decidedly false equivalency between medieval atrocities that occurred hundreds of years ago with the atrocities perpetrated by Islamic terrorists today. "The Medieval Christian threat is under control, Mr. President. Please deal with the Radical Islamic threat today," quipped Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal in response,
CNN reported.
11. Gun control — "Let me be clear about this: Unless we do something – change our politics and change our laws – these painful tragedies will continue." As recently as this weekend, Obama has threatened to use unilateral executive actions to undermine the Second Amendment. He claims that his ideas will stop mass shootings, however multiple news organizations have shown that many shooters obtain their guns legally, and would pass strict background check proposed by the president. It is telling that Obama has not commented on mass stabbings, advocating to ban knives.
12. Trayvon Martin — "You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago." Six days after George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering Martin, President Obama made it clear he disagreed with the jury's findings. Many saw it as the president succumbing to a race-baiting media circus, as both Martin and Zimmerman were civilians. In 2014 and 2015, polling has shown that a majority of Americans think that race relations have gotten worse under Obama's presidency.
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